Nowadays, special safety systems for passengers are installed in almost all vehicle categories to protect the passengers from serious injuries in the vent of a crash. In addition to passive safety systems, such as for example predetermined breaking points, collapsible zones of the passenger cell, particularly active safety systems in the form of airbags take on an important role in this regard. Although initially many vehicles were equipped only with one airbag developed in the front area of the vehicle interior, e.g. as a steering wheel airbag, side airbags and head airbags are by now used in many vehicle categories. While side airbags are mostly intended to protect passengers from sustaining serious injuries in the pelvic and thoracic region, the purpose of head airbags is to protect the driver's head from injuries during serious side impacts and rollovers of the vehicle. This is especially relevant for the application in convertibles, since corresponding protection of the head region by a roofliner of the vehicle is not provided.
Head airbags may generally be integrated into the roofliner of vehicles, but also into door trim panel areas. Given the fact that convertibles have no roofliner, the integration of the head airbag into the door trim panel is a possibility in this connection to provide a corresponding head safety device for passengers. DE 10 2005 010 025 A1, for example, describes such a vehicle door trim panel comprising a head impact protection device for passengers.
Moreover, various additional installations of head airbags in vehicle doors are known from prior art. DE 10 2005 010 024 A1, for example, describes a vehicle door trim panel for a vehicle with a head impact protection device for passengers. As a module the head impact protection device comprises an airbag support, an airbag, as well as a gas generator in this connection. DE 10 2004 058 506 A1 discloses a vehicle door with an integrated side impact protection device for passengers. The relevant airbag device is arranged between the edge reinforcement hollow profile and a door trim panel part. DE 103 15 622 A1 describes a safety device for a vehicle arranged behind the interior paneling. DE 103 15 622 A1 discloses an airbag module arranged between the inside door panel and the door trim panel, with part of the inside door panel or the door trim panel serving as a deployment channel. The disadvantage of such head airbag safety devices as described is that airbag modules with high cost of materials and complex assembly must be installed into the door trim panel.